The Balm of Ballabungie
by chasethecloudsaway
Summary: <html><head></head>Rocket and friends try to concoct an enchanted ointment. Unfortunately, it's a recipe for disaster – quite literally!</html>
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Rocket Boulsworth was pumping up a giant inflatable banana in the lounge-kitchen-diner, with nobody as his audience save Meryl the sheep, who clearly was not accustomed to people blowing up giant inflatable bananas in the room and was eying it very cautiously. Jade somehow managed to make it down the stairs without falling over whilst carrying a gigantic pile of hats (two of which she was wearing) and she plonked the lot on the kitchen table.

"All ready for the beach!" she stated. Her head turned to the banana.

"Where'd you get that from?" she asked Rocket.

"Dad told me he found it in the loft with the other inflatables," Rocket replied, still pumping even though the banana was full, "Speaking of the attic, I don't think I've ever been in there. I wonder if they have any magical artefacts hidden in some secret cupboard that mum and dad have never found-"

Suddenly, the banana gave a small bursting sound and began spewing out air. Meryl the sheep sprang off his bed in fright and landed on the sofa.

"Hey, wait! No, no…" Rocket shrieked as he frantically searched for the leak.

Jade struggled not to giggle at the sight. Just then, Brandon appeared in the doorway clad in a sky blue t-shirt and navy shorts, arms laden with the rest of the inflatables, none of which were blown up. Archie hovered beside him with a parasol.

Rocket managed at that moment to find the hole and yelled at the others, "Quick! Get the puncture repair kit!"

Jade, Archie and Brandon dropped whatever they were doing and sprinted for the banana's box. Alli came downstairs next, caught sight of the three wrestling the banana and immediately said, "What are these flat rubber rings doing on the floor?"

Jade had just finished mending the banana so Rocket replied, "Oh! We're doing them next!"

The bunch busied themselves with the task of pumping up a selection of armbands and rubber rings. About 20 minutes later, Peter Boulsworth stepped into the dining area and noticed the kids' progress.

"I see you're almost finished," he remarked uneasily, sick at the thought of the bad news he was about to break to them.

Rocket pushed the stopper into a beach ball. "We're ready to go!" he called back, looping a rubber ring under his arm and holding the ball in his palm.

"Race you to the front door!" said Jade playfully. Peter got out of the way as a stampede of kids bounded through the door to the hallway.

"Hold on a minute," he tried to reason with them.

"We're all set to go, Dad!" said Rocket excitedly, but Peter's face remained solemn. Eventually, Rocket asked, "Where's mum?"

"Kids," said Peter, seating himself on the stairs, "Could you come a bit closer? There's something that I need to tell you."

Rocket and the others stepped toward him with a serious air. Mr Boulsworth continued, "I'm afraid…" All eyes were upon him. "I'm afraid Sarah has got the flu."

"What!?" spat Alli.

"Oh no!" wailed Rocket.

"You mean we can't go to the beach?" said Jade worriedly.

"I'm afraid we _are_ going to have to cancel the trip," answered Peter, "I can't leave Sarah here on her own. I'm sorry, everyone. There's nothing we can do." Alli groaned monstrously. "I_promise _next time we'll go to the seaside. What more can I say?"

"I don't believe this!" shouted Alli, dropping the arm bands she was carrying, "It's not fair! You always stop me from having fun!"

She stomped off up the stairs. "Alli!" said Peter disapprovingly.

"Leave me alone!" Alli yelled back, rushing to her bedroom. Archie surreptitiously picked up the water wings she had let go of.

"To think we spent all morning pumping up these toys," complained Rocket.

"It's nobody's fault Sarah is unwell," replied Peter, "Could you please just accept that? I don't need Sarah having to worry about you getting cross you couldn't go on the trip on top of being ill."

"All right, Dad," responded Rocket.

"Thank you," said Peter, "I understand this is going to be hard for you but hopefully there are plenty of other things you can spend the day doing."

"It's OK, Mr Boulsworth," agreed Jade. Archie nodded.

Peter went on, "Since Sarah will be stuck in bed for a while, I think I'd better start some of her jobs round the farm for her. Remember to take care of her while I'm gone"

Peter went outside while Jade spread her inflatables on the table. "Do the pumps deflate the toys as well as inflate them?" she queried. Archie sat forlornly on one of the chairs.

"Don't say that!" said Rocket, "Mum might perk up."

"Not if she's got the flu, she won't," commented Brandon, "She'll be in bed the rest of the week."

"Well we can't give up hope!" answered Rocket.

"What else can we do?" said Jade, "It's not as if we can _magically_ make Mrs Boulsworth better."

"Hang on…" evaluated Rocket, "That's brilliant!"

Abruptly, he hurried out the front door. "What happened there?" asked Jade. "What did I say?"

Brandon shrugged. "I guess it's just us who are going to let down the inflatables," he said, changing the subject, "Come on." He took some off the table and thrust them onto the sofa. A few loud sobs came from Alli upstairs.

At the same time, Rocket hopped on his quad bike and took off at top speed to the village. Before long, he arrived beside the Ballabungie village shop. Throwing off his helmet, he bolted into the shop and at the counter was none other than Dibber's granddad – exactly the person he wanted to see. Dibber was also there. "Quick!" Rocket hollered at Dibber's granddad, "I need to see your book!"

"What is it, Rocky?" wondered Dibber.

"No time to explain!" said Rocket, as everyone hurried to the room round the back of the shop.

Once inside, as Dibber's granddad pulled out the aged volume of Ballabungie legends, Rocket enquired, "Do you have anything on medicine? Anything that can cure flu?"

"Flu?" asked Dibber.

"My mum's really sick," answered Rocket as Dibber's granddad spread out the hardback on the table, "We were supposed to go to the seaside as a family too!"

"Oh, yeah…I remember," recollected Dibber.

"Aaah…" mused granddad, "So, it is the healing potions you are after? I will show you the best healing potion of them all…" He turned to a page and shone the red light on it. "Here is the recipe for the balm of Ballabungie – a remedy that can cure any illness known to man. One cup of this ointment will heal your mother like no other thing can, but be warned! If you do not comply with the strict list of rituals that comes with the method the potion will be annulled and perhaps your mother's condition will get even worse…"

Rocket was gawping in astonishment. "That's amazing!" he cried, "What does it need?"

"You will soon see…" said granddad mysteriously, whipping out a quill pen, ink and some thick paper from a nearby drawer. He started copying from the tome, with Rocket and Dibber watching attentively.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Rocket drove the quad bike back to the farmyard, holding the manuscript for the salve under his arm. He hopped off and charged back into the farmhouse, where Jade, Brandon and Archie were up their ears in deflating beach toys. "Come and help us, Rocket!" called Jade. Then she spotted the large sheet of paper he was clutching. "What's that?" she asked.

"Look at this!" said Rocket impatiently, spreading out the document on the table. The others left their task to see what all the fuss was about and crowded around him. "This is the method for the balm of Ballabungie. Dibber's granddad told me it can cure any disease in the world!"

"So that was what you ran off for earlier!" Jade exclaimed.

"I've checked all the ingredients," continued Rocket, "I'm sure we have all of them around the house."

"Are you sure this will work?" said Brandon sceptically.

"It's worth a try," urged Rocket, "But we have to perform certain rituals whilst hunting for the ingredients or else it won't work."

"What do we do first?" enquired Jade.

"Well, first we need to get a bowl and then we need to fill it with lots of ice and put a metal bowl on top of the ice."

Brandon went over to the cupboard.

"Wait!" called Rocket, "Someone needs to be performing a ritual at the same time. It's…"

He glanced at the paper.

"…washing the floor."

"I'll do that," volunteered Jade, before she grabbed the mop and a bucket. While Jade filled the bucket with water, Brandon fished around in the cupboards for the bowls. Rocket went straight to the freezer and grabbed an ice tray.

Noticing Archie had nothing to do, as soon as Rocket had fetched the ice he told Archie that he could put the ice in the bowl, which unfortunately Brandon was struggling to pull out the cupboard.

"I…think…it's…stuck…" he heaved. Suddenly, it came loose and Brandon went flying. He crashed straight into Jade, who had now filled the bucket to the brim, and the kitchen ended up with its floor clean in a very unorthodox method. Rocket and Archie both ended up with complimentary showers. Jade peeled herself from the sopping wet floor and examined the destruction.

"Looks like you two did get to go swimming after all!" joked Brandon.

Rocket grinned. Jade started giggling at the sight of two lads dripping water onto the already submerged floorboards. Before long the whole company was in stitches – with the exception of Archie, who just smiled.

Meanwhile, Alli Boulsworth was sulking in her bedroom when there was a knock at the door. "Don't bother!" she shouted rudely, "I've had enough false promises! Leave me alone."

Sarah opened the door. "Are you all right, Alli?" she asked in a raspy voice, "Are you sure you don't need a cuddle?" Alli didn't protest.

Sarah wandered into the room and sat on the bed beside her daughter, whose face was red and saturated with tears. She took hold of Alli's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Sometimes things don't go to plan," she whispered, "I was mortified when I woke up and found I had the flu but sometimes we just have to accept things aren't always just as we hope them to be."

"But why did it have to be today?" sobbed Alli, "Everything was going fine!"

"It's not so much about avoiding difficult situations," Sarah soothed, "Often we just have to make the best of what we've got. We can still spend some time together. I'm disappointed that we can't go to the beach but at least we can still have some family time."

Alli sat up and allowed herself to be embraced by her mother. She let off the rest of her tears on Sarah's shoulder.

Downstairs, Jade had finally managed to soak up the last of the spillage and Archie had placed the metal bowl on top of the ice-filled dish. "What's next?" said Brandon, seemingly more enthusiastic about the whole business.

"Shea butter," Rocket read out.

"What's that?" quizzed Jade.

"I'm _not _exactly sure," said Rocket honestly, "I think it just means butter."

"What do we need to do while someone is putting that in the bowl?"

Brandon peeked at the document and read out, "Dust the cobwebby corners."

Jade observed the ceiling above the cupboards. "It doesn't look that cobwebby to me," she stated, frowning.

"Well, maybe we could hire some spiders to go and make some," said Brandon mischievously.

"Let's just _pretend_ there are cobwebs up there," Rocket proposed, grabbing a feather duster from a cupboard.

He clambered his way onto the worktop and dusted the corners merrily.

The four continued concocting the lotion for the next half-hour. They moved onto the ingredients of cocoa butter (well, technically it was Sarah's cocoa butter body cream but Rocket supposed it would work just the same), almond oil (they also didn't actually have this so they used some almond milk instead), corn starch (which they spilled all over the table top, thanks to Rocket's idea to shake the bag when they discovered the stuff was all stuck together…) and essential oil (Rocket thought that just meant normal sunflower oil). In harmony with the allotted rituals, the counter was scrubbed, the windows were washed, the furniture was polished and the table was cleaned (which was useful, considering they needed to wipe up all that corn flour).

"It's ready!" squealed Jade as Brandon mixed the last of the oil into the ointment. According to the recipe, that was correct, but Rocket couldn't help feeling uneasy as the substance did not look like he'd been expecting. The mixture was rather runny and when he touched the stuff he was alarmed to feel how oily it was. It was coloured beige with tiny dots of cocoa here and there, not to mention the odd bit of butter. Still, he didn't decide to give up on it. This was the one chance they had of getting to the beach. He took the dish out of the ice-filled metal bowl and laid it on the table.

All Rocket needed to do was give it one last stir and repeat the magical incantation recorded at the bottom of the paper. "Geaysh kinneig druaightagh balley jannoo reejerey!" he read out, not having any idea what it meant. It was probably in Manx, he thought.

To complete the spell, he chucked a pinch of corn flour over his shoulder and whispered his mother's full name.

"I'm going to blow up the inflatables again!" chimed Jade excitedly.

"Shouldn't we wait until it works first?" Brandon worried.

"I _think _that's a good idea," answered Rocket, an element of concern in his voice, "I don't even know whether we got the recipe right!"

Jade scanned the piece of paper. "Look, Rocket!" she said reassuringly, "It says here that the rituals are more important than the recipe. That's what makes it work." This sank into her foster-brother's brain for a while.

"Then let's get back to those inflatables!" said Rocket cheerily.

Everyone scrambled over to the heaps of toys they'd abandoned and blew up the ones they'd already deflated. Rocket got to work re-inflating the banana, which had been shrunk down to the size of a shrivelled skin by Brandon. The patch had been stuck on firmly so no air escaped as Rocket caused it to grow back to its full size.

Regrettably, Jade's beach ball did quite the opposite. One second she was considering putting the stopper in, the next there was a tremendous BANG!

Meryl the sheep whizzed off his bed, and charged as fast as his little legs would carry him through the mass of inflatables (which by now he quite detested), accidentally getting one of his hooves caught in a rubber ring Brandon had just inserted a foot pump into. Jade and Rocket rifled the mass of floppy plastic for the repair kit, which had become buried long ago, while Brandon chased desperately after his hooved friend around the kitchen table. He had just managed to pounce upon the object, freeing Meryl, when the four-legged animal wildly jogged the table, causing the bowl of lotion to teeter-totter dangerously near to the edge. Rocket jerked round his head to see the dish make a dive for the floor, and leapt heroically into its path to stop it.

You could have filmed the incident in slow motion. He caught the bowl of ointment right before it would have crashed onto the ground, spilling its contents everywhere.

"Whew!" he breathed.

Next thing he knew, Alli had tore down the stairs and stood in the kitchen doorway.

"Are you all right!?" she panicked.

Brandon was trying to herd Meryl back to his basket but he paused to see Rocket sprawled on the tiles, clutching the balm.

"Good catch, Rocket!" called Jade.

"What just happened here?" spurted Alli.

"It's a long story," replied Rocket, getting off the floor, "It began when Jade said that…"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

Sarah Boulsworth crept downstairs, smelling a delicious scent in the air. She wondered where it could be coming from.

She opened the lounge door to catch Rocket, Alli, Brandon, Jade and Archie engaged in a variety of activities. Alli was stirring a pan full of red sauce on the stove, and Rocket was manning some spaghetti. Jade, Brandon and Archie were chucking biscuit chunks into a saucepan of melted chocolate, when Jade looked up and said, "Hello, Mrs Boulsworth!"

"We're making lunch!" added Rocket, who was putting together a salad of actual rocket, as well as red chard and lamb's lettuce.

Sarah scanned the diner. The floor was clean, the windows were glistening and a peaceful feeling filled the air. What could have occurred while she was in her bedroom?

"I think the sauce is ready," said Alli, turning off the heat.

"Oh! Wait!" cried Rocket, hurriedly grabbing the bowl of ointment.

He presented it to his mum. "This is the balm of Ballabungie," he explained, "Dibber's granddad says that if you rub it into your hands it will cure the flu."

Sarah took a dollop of the potion and massaged it onto her hands. "You have been busy!" she observed, the croakiness in her voice already fading. It was then Rocket realized just what those strict rituals in the recipe had entailed. Mopping the floor, dusting the corners, scrubbing the worktop, washing the windows, polishing the furniture, cleaning the table…all of them had been things that were altogether helping his mum!

"Shall I dish up?" probed Alli.

"Let's wait until Peter gets back," responded Sarah, "In the meantime, I think it would be nice to play a board game…" She surveyed the settee, which was submerged beneath a mound of inflatables. "…although obviously not sat on the sofa!"

Peter Boulsworth entered the front door clad in his overalls, carrying a shovel. He went into the dining room to see how the kids were getting on, and was surprised to find them crowded round the dining table – with his wife – playing scrabble!

"Should I serve lunch now?" enquired Alli.

"OK," said Sarah, barely any of her croak remaining, "Let's clear the table."

Peter stood watching in complete silence. It seemed like rather a lot had happened while he was working in the farm.

A few days later, Rocket was sauntering past the Ballabungie village shop when he caught sight of Dibber's granddad working away hard in the store.

Rocket dashed inside and went up to the counter, behind which granddad was cheerfully sorting out some boxes.

"You made up the balm of Ballabungie, didn't you?" accused Rocket, but not with disapproval or malice.

Dibber's granddad paused in what he was doing, but he said nothing.

"It wasn't the balm that magically healed mum," Rocket went on, "You knew all along what would really make her better."

"The best medicine comes from the heart," was all granddad said, before disappearing into the back of the shop, leaving Rocket on his own to contemplate his cryptic message.

Had the balm of Ballabungie been a load of fairy tales? Rocket never found out.

However, there was one thing he had learnt. It was true what granddad said – the best remedy for his mother was not some mystic potion that could heal anything but rather a simple expression of love.

THE END


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